Fiber! Food!

Inspired by an article by Frank Bruni in this past Sunday's New York Times Magazine section (March 6, 2011, The Billionaire Who Is Planning His 125th Birthday," http://tinyurl.com/462kdta), I was motivated to put more fruits and vegetables in my grocery cart this week. At the store, I noticed Tanya Zuckerbrot's new line of F-Factor foods. Zuckerbrot's claim to fame is her F-Factor diet, which emphasizes eating substantial amounts of fiber daily.

I bought a few bags of frozen blueberries and raspberries and a bunch of bananas. I pureed some of the berries for an enjoyable afternoon snack. This morning, I made a smoothie with the fruit, adding a dash of cranberry juice and a dash of orange/peach/mango juice, plus a sprinkle of xylitol crystals. Both concoctions were delicious, but they required time, planning and equipment.

The F-Factor line includes a line of snack bars. They pack in a remarkable 12 grams of dietary fiber, which is 50 percent of the suggested daily requirement. I tried the banana walnut. It didn't come close to my tasty fruit smoothie, but it didn't taste like cardboard, either. There was a definite banana walnut taste. Though chocolate usually makes anything palatable, it didn't do the trick in this case; the brownie flavor didn't stand up. It's all subjective, but in my opinion, the brownie flavor was, well, yuck.

If you do try these bars, do remember to drink tons of water so that the fiber can work its magic. Zuckerbrot's product certainly is convenient, but nothing competes with mother nature.